Who Else Can You Trust
by avatarmerida
Summary: An AU where Lust is reincarnated in Riza after Roy thinks he's destroyed her. How does the homunculus plan to use the image of the first lieutenant to bring the flame alchemist to his demise? Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

"Such a sad and weak creature, another typical human," mocked Lust as she watched Riza fall to the ground, as she wept over the loss of her fallen superior. Alphonse stood in front of the grieving woman, protecting her from the homunculus.

"Stand up lieutenant," he said as he transmutated a weapon, intending to fight Lust.

Riza's world had come crumbling down and was shattered in the span of a few seconds. She wasn't thinking clearly, her guard was down, everything was a blur. Her colonel was dead. The man she swore to follow into hell. Her childhood friend. Her hope for the future. Gone.

She knew he would die someday, he was but a mortal, but she always pictured them going down together, or at least her before him. That was how difficult it was for her to picture a world without him. She refused to. She knew he wouldn;t want her to give up. but what choice did she have? Everything she had, everything she believed in, was linked to Mustang. She knew she couldn't go on living without him.

She didn't intend to. But she also didn't intend to let the bitch who took him away from her outlive her.

"Go Al," she ordered in a harsh whisper.

"Lieutenant?" he asked, confused.

"Leave her to me," she said, her voice becoming stronger. "Go find the colonel, please. Don't let this be his final resting place." She slowly, but surely, rose to her feet. Tears still stung her face but her eyes held a more determined fury rather than a sadness.

"No!" he protested. "I won't let you get hurt! Not if I can protect you!"

"I understand that feeling, more than you may realize," she said soberly. "But trust me when I say this is something I need to do myself. Please. If there is the slightest chance the colonel is still alive, I beg you to find him so he can be saved. I promise you, I will not give up the fight."

"I can't just leave you! She's too strong!"

"He has a point," commented Lust. "Your precious colonel had his alchemy and wits and even he couldn;t stop me, why should you be any different?"

Hawkeye glared at the homunculus, looking her dead in the eye. "Because I have nothing left to loose."

"Then this should be very interesting," respond Lust.

"Alphonse go, find the colonel!" ordered Hawkeye as she dodged an attack from Lust. Everything fiber of Al's being told him to stay, but he knew the lieutenant was right: if the colonel was still alive, he would be in pretty bad shape and in desperate need of medical attention. Al decided he would quickly find the colonel and then come back for Hawkeye. He knew she was capable of taking care of herself and even if she couldn't defeat Lust, she could at least hold her off for awhile.

"It's awfully kind of you to save me the trouble of having to kill another primary candidate for sacrifice," said Lust condescendingly, as she sent her claws at Riza, who managed to dodge them all perfectly. "Though I have to admit, out of all the sacrifices, your colonel was the easiest on the eyes. Though, I don't think that's quite so true anymore."

Infuriated, Riza shot another round at Lust. It was a momentary setback, enough to allow R iza to catch her breath but not enough to tire List by any means. Riza knew this situation would be mostly dodging until she could figure out a way to get the upper hand. She needed to make the murderess suffer.

"You fight so diligently in the name of a man who was merely your commanding officer," comment Lust. "If more soldiers had you dedication, they'd certainly be harder to kill."

Riza revealed another gun and fired again. Lust merely laughed.

"What, no comeback? You're no fun at all," she continued as she walked forward. Another shot. "It appears I've struck a nerve. Have I killed more than your superior officer, perhaps? Did you love him?"

A succession of bullets.

"I'll take that as a yes. How poetic, the lionheart continues to fight long after king has fallen. It's almost enough to make me shed a tear. Almost."

Hawkeye snapped. She leapt toward the homunculus who truly thought she had the soldier right where she wanted her. She prepared to strike her spears through the lieutenant's heart but just as she was about to, Hawkeye grabbed her wrists. Swiftly, she brought them behind Lust's back in a classic holding possession she had used countless times before on criminals.

"Foolish girl," smirked Lust. "Don't you realize I'm not some typical threat? Nice try though. Give the colle a kiss for me when you see him."

Riza felt the spears coming for her, acting quicker than she ever had to, she twisted the homunculus' wrist so her spears wen in the opposite direction. Rather than going through Riza's heart, they punctured their owner instead. It was enough to really affect Lust. She lost her balance and feel to her knees.

Riza kicked her to the ground, breathing heavily. She took out her last gun, knowing only one bullet remained.

"Impressive," managed List, gasping for breath. "The colonels had himself quite a woman."

"Shut up," she said, aiming her weapon. "You don't deserve to even mention him."

"Such a proud woman," mused the Homunculus. "You know that won't kill me."

"That may be true," admitted Riza. "But I intend to make you suffer as much as possible for what you did!"

She prepared to fire.

"Lieutenant!"

That voice. It couldn't be. She was hearing thing. She had gone crazy. Desperate, she took her eyes off her target and looked toward the source. And there he stood. Or was it a ghost.

"I'll take it from here!" insisted Mustang, he was obviously in a great deal of pain, covered in blood. He had a fresh wound and was holding it, it looked as though he had healed it himself. He was in pieces but he was alive. Alive.

"Colonel," she breathed in a combination of relief and disbelief. This was enough of a distraction for Lust to take advantage of and make her move. Before Hawkeye could follow through, before Mustang could intervene or even say another word of warning, Lust struck Riza from behind and the first lieutenant fell to her knees.

Everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

"What happened to Lusty? Bring her back! ? What have you done?" spat a familiar voice in Riza's face. She slowly opened her eyes, not fully remembering what had happened or why she had passed out in the first place.

She could tell this was not a safe or ideal environment for her, and tried to take in her surroundings as quickly as possible. though she could find nothing familiar to suggest where she was. She then became aware of the overwhelming pain on her back. She hadn't felt that kind of pain since she asked Mustang to... Mustang! The colonel! It was all coming back to her now. He was dead. No, wait, no he wasn't. It was still a little blurry.

No, he's okay, she reminded herself. Lust had lied. He's alive. But for how long? His wounds were pretty severe as she recalled. She needed to get to him, but first she needed to figure out where she was.

"Wake up!" the voice demanded again. "Wake up or I'll eat you!"

Riza realized who, or what, was talking to her. Gluttony, that thing that had nearly killed her once before. She had barely escaped then, and here she was completely unarmed and injured. was she going to make it back to her colonel?

"Colonel! You're alive!" exclaimed Alphonse as he happened upon the limping man. "Oh, you're bleeding!"

"Yes, but Havoc is much worse," exclaimed the colonel. "He's still breathing, but he can't get up. Please... go to him, get him out of here and- Alphonse! Where is Hawkeye?"

"She told me to find you!" he explained nervously. "She was worried about you, but she's in trouble, and I didn't-."

"Say no more," he interrupted. "I think I have a way to help her, just point me in the right direction!"

The sound of shots being fired were the only direction he needed.

When he got to her, she was still putting up a fight, but he knew she wouldn't last much longer.

"I'll take it from here !" declared Mustang, cringing from the pain, but attempting to stay strong for her sake. She looked at him like he had come back from the dead, and maybe he had. But before he could say another word, he watched in horror as Lust did the same thing to her as she had done to Havoc. The light drained from her face as she collapsed to the ground. The blood came instantly.

"No!" was all he could say as he ran towards her hopefully not lifeless body. "Not again!"

"What a touching reunion," mocked Lust from the ground as she began to regenerate. "And lucky me, I get the pleasure of killing you all over again. And as an added bonus, this time you get to watch our little girlfriend die."

She regained her form and stood between the colonel and his subordinate, preventing him from getting to her. She knew he wouldn't dare use his flame alchemy on her if there was a chance he'd hrt Hawkeye in the process.

"I'll admit, she put up a good fight," she went on. "But the tired thing was simply blinded by rage. No, no it was more than rage. Perhaps love?"

"Shut up!"

"I see the same fire in you as well," she observed cooly.

"That's not the only fire you'll see!" he pulled out his lighter and prepared to incinerate her but she simply moved closer to the lieutenant, knowing he would hesitate.

"What's wrong colonel?" she mocked. "You have me right where you want me, why not follow through?"

"You think you're going to walk away from here alive?" he spat. "I'm afraid you're sadly mistaken. No one hurts my subordinates and gets away with it."

He fired a small blast of fire at her, hitting her square on the forehead, knocking her backwards away from the lieutenant.

"Nice shot," she said. "But I don't think it's enough to save your lieu-AHHHH!"

Having carved a transmutation circle in his hand, he used the lighter to project his flame alchemy full force, engulfing her in flames. She screamed in pain as her personal inferno scorched her.

"How much will it take to kill you?" he demanded angrily. "I've got nothing but time! You sealed your fate the minute you laid a finger on Hawkeye!"

Another burst of fire. Another loud scream. Again and again.

Roy was so determined to personally see this creature out of the world that he had nearly forgotten about the pain of new wound. But the pain demanded to be felt. Right before he could deliver the final blow he was sure would end her, his surroundings began to blur. The pain in his side forced him to the ground. Lust reformed and laughed at his pain, seeing this to be her chance. She knew her lives were limited. He had been so close.

He tied lifting his arms but the pain was simply too much even for a na as strong as Mustang. He heard Lust's chuckle, a clear sign his defeat was on its way. His eyes focused on his lieutenant, who remained unmoving. With the small ounce of strength he had remaining, he crawled towards her body. She was still breathing. But for how long.

"Perfect," mused Lust. "I can finish you off together, what a wonderful ending to my day."

He collapsed right by her side, his eyes locked on her face. If he didn't know any better, he could imagine she was simply sleeping, dreaming about something pleasant.

"I'm sorry lieutenant," he whispered, not knowing what else to say or do. "This is how it's supposed to end."

Lust extended her spear and prepared to strike. His vision was blurring even worse now. He swung the hand he used to hold his wound over the unconscious lieutenant, in some last stitch way of protection. His world went dark.

Lust prepared to strike them both at once. In her determination she did not see the lieutenant stir. She did not notice the subtle raising of her arm beneath the colonel's embrace. But she notice when she was suddenly halted by Hawkeye's final bullet sailing through her forehead.

"It's not going to end," Riza whispered with a struggle, her head fell and she once again lost consciousness.

She tried her best to compose an escape plan, but she wasn't even sure if she could move. She wouldn't know where to run.

"Who is this you have brought to me?" another voice, this one not familiar at all. Where had she been taken?

"Apparently, this is the one who nearly killed Lust," said another voice. "She's one of Mustang's lackeys. She put up a pretty good fight apparently. When we found Lust, she and Mustang were there too, all of them laying on the ground, knocked out. I convinced Gluttony not to eat her in case you might have some sue for her."

"I see," said the man. "And how is Lust?"

"On her last thread," replied the voice. "One more hit and she's done for."

One more hit, thought Riza. That's all I need! At least if I die, she goes down with me.

"I see," continued the man. "I think I may have a solution. Envy, do you think having this woman on our side would benefit us?"

"Yeah," said the voice. "But she's loyal to that colonel of her's; there's no way she'd willingly join us."

"And Lust," he went on. "How would you feel about getting a new form after all this time?"

"I don't think I'm in much of a position to say no," said Lust weakly , from where Riza did not know. She felt it best not to let her captors know she was conscious. " A makeover might do me some good."

"Very well then," he said. "I think I may have found a way to use this set back to our advantage."

"Whatever you say, father."

Riza came in and out of consciousness. She knew she was loosing alot of blood, but try as she might, she couldn't piece together the fragments of what she overheard into something hat made any sense. What was this "father" doing? Was he healing List or destroying her? Could he do both? And what did that have planned for her?

She felt a presence in front of her and then a gentle kick to her side. "Wake up."

She lifted her head and directed her eyes towards the source, seeing an older man with a white beard. Father?

"There's a good girl," he said. "I can sense that you are indeed as strong as my children say. Shall we see if you live up to the hype?"

"Have you come to kill me?" she demanded.

"Possibility not," he said calmly. There was something in his palm but what she could not see.

"What have you done with the colonel?" her voice became more stern and aggressive as she attempted to rise to her feet, but to no avail.

"Nothing yet," he said. "His life can be spared, but only time will tell. Your life is the one you should be worried about."

Riza suddenly felt something like a rain drop fall onto her face. But it wasn't a raindrop, it wasn't water, it stung. Like a liquid bullet. The red liquid found an open wound and was instantly absorbed into her skin and she felt it spread through her body in a matter of seconds. What was it, poison? Then her whole body stung as if she was struck by lightning. It was as if she was… shrinking. Like her very soul was being pushed aside to make room for… something. Like she was being condensed for…

"Oh it's good to be back,"

Lust! But where was she? She sounded close, eerily close. Riza knew she wasn't beside her, so why could she hear her so perfectly. Then Riza rose to her feet. What? How was she doing that, she was moving but she couldn't feel anything. As if someone was doing it for her. She went to say something, but it was as if her voice was blocked by a lead wall.

"What's going on?" she exclaimed, scared. Where was she? Everything seemed like it was on fire, like she was herself but at the same time she wasn't. She wasn't alone.

"Oh, don't be too concerned dear." said Lust. "You should feel honored, most people aren't strong enough to handle this. Hope you don't mind sharing."

That's when Riza realized what was happening: Lust had invaded her body. Riza had no control. She had been pushed aside as the homunculus took control of her image. Ria saw what she saw, heard what she heard, knew everything that was happening but she was a prisoner.

"Now, I think it's time we pay the colonel a visit," declared Lust.


End file.
